I've been assimilated

I got my first Blackberry today. For the uninitiated, a Blackberry (or 'berry) is a wireless device that's does email and calendar and is also a phone. I'd successfully avoided having one of these up until now, despite the fact that they have been standard issue equipment for years anyone in IT or the financial industry.

Those of you who know me know that I'm no technophobe. I embrace the type of technology that offers a real improvement in productivity and quality of life. Does a cell phone meet the criteria? Absolutely. A laptop? yep. TiVo? Can't live without it. (And not sure how I will once we move).

I haven't avoided this device thus far because I'm afraid of it in any way. Rather, I've avoided it because I know my own limitations and shortcomings. One of these is that I have very little discipline when it comes to email. I check email, I don't know, 100 times a day? Maybe 200. And I get a LOT of email. Even with filtering, I may get 400 emails a day. So I'm not convinced a device that vibrates every time I get a new email is really the best thing for either my sanity or my family time. They call these things Crackberries for a reason.

But today, I succumbed. I had no choice, really. An IT person without a blackberry working in an investment bank is like a Swiss Guard without clothes working in the Vatican. It's simply not an option.

I picked it up from a very friendly and helpful guy in my new group. And of course, my trouble started right away. For starters, I had to enter my password. Now, I really can't do two things simultaneously, like talking and typing. In fact, it's a something of a stretch to do either of these things by itself. So carrying on a conversation while entering my password using keys the size of match heads was a bit of a struggle. I also don't perform well with an audience, and there were about 5 people gathered around at the time watching me. I got the password wrong on the first two tries. Then, while fiddling with the thing, I walked into a door. Right into it. Bang. Ouch.

And so, thus both mollified and bruised, I conclude my first day with the new Berry. Oh, wait, there's more mail. Gotta check it!